Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. See our User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. See our Privacy Policy and User Agreement for details.

Effective visitors

This short briefing is intended to set out principles that visitors and schools should consider applying in ensuring a good experience and outcome from using external support in a school’s delivery of drug education.

Effective visitors

1.
Principles for Supporting School Drug EducationPrinciples for partnership workingRecent research carried out by researchers at should ensure that they are using up to dateHallam Sheffield University found that over half of resources and data.secondary schools and a third of primary schools where the visitor is from the police servicework in partnership with at least one external they should ensure that they are working toprovider to deliver drug educationi. ACPO’s Joining Forces guidance (http://bit.ly/lpkTee).Children and young people often find visitors toschool a useful and informative part of their Schools:learning, but equally we know that for visits to be should negotiate content with the visitor, tosuccessful there need to be shared take account of class needs and ensureunderstanding about the nature and content of relevance.the session/s. should ensure that visitors have a clear understanding about the aims andGovernment guidance has been that schools objectives of the session and they have seenshould exercise caution with the use of visitors as and understood the school’s drug educationthere is some evidence that particular messages policy.can have a detrimental impact on young should ensure that visitors have been briefedpeople’s intentions to resist using drugs including on any particular sensitivities that there mayalcoholii. Particular caution should be used be in the student group – these may includewhen visitors have had firsthand experience of identified drug issues by particular studentsproblematic drug use. or their families – as well as any broaderThis short briefing is intended to set out principles needs within the group.that visitors and schools should consider applying should ensure that where visitors are usedin ensuring a good experience and outcome that the content of the session is linked backfrom using external support in a school’s delivery to the broader drug education and PSHEof drug education. delivered by the school. Teachers should be present at all times when a visitor isOur Principles in the class, and be ready to be an activeVisitors: participant in these sessions. should ensure that they reflect on the should be aware of the key principles of learning from particular sessions with pupils effective drug education and visitors, assessing the learning, and (http://bit.ly/gUGTFi). building skills and pro-health attitudes. should be aware of national and local should follow-up any unresolved issues and, approaches to drug education and PSHE whenever needed, extend the learning and be able to show that they use evidence begun by the visitor, in a subsequent lesson. based strategies. should be alert to any distress caused or should avoid shocking images and concerns raised in the session and ensure inappropriate descriptions of drug use and that appropriate support is given. be sensitive to any distress shown by pupils during the session. should reflect on the learning from the i Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) session with the teacher and other staff and Education: A mapping study of the prevalent models where possible with students. of delivery and their effectiveness, DfE (2011) ii Drugs: Guidance for Schools, DfES (2004)